Wal-Mart employee trampled to death on Black Friday

by Mark R

This next article is not about a gadget per se, but more about people’s greedy tendency to rush for cheap gadgets. I’m sure all of you are aware of the unofficial holiday of Black Friday. This is the day after Thanksgiving, where Americans discover that they are not as thankful as the previous day and must crowd retail outlets in order to get “doorbuster” items at rock-bottom prices. This is so they can give them away as gifts, of course.

Unfortunately, this tradition has gone too far. I have recently learned that a Wal-Mart worker was trampled to death as several shoppers burst through the doors. The scene of this crime is in Valley Stream on Long Island, where four other people were injured, including a pregnant woman.

This is one of those stories where I could make some easy cracks, but I simply can’t in the face of someone’s needless death, especially when the shoppers physically broke down the doors to get in.

This should definitely be one of those events that should be a wake-up call to consumers. Do we really need to storm a retail outlet to get the latest toy? Can’t we just grow up and learn to wait in line? It appears that Black Friday is living up to its name.